Apparatus for raising loaded containers



Nov. 12, 1935. v B F, HT'CH 2,020,306

APPARATUS FOR RAISING LOADED CONTAINERS Filed July 30, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l w I gmwm 4Z 0 Zgz NOV. 12, 1935. B, F, c 2,020,306

APPARATUS FOR RAISING LOADED CONTAINERS Filed July 50, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 12, 1935 UNITED STATE sunset APPARATUS FOR RAISING LOADED CONTAINERS Benjamin F. Fitch, Greenwich, Conn., assignor to Motor Terminals Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware The handling of package freight by means of 'demountable bodies adapted to be lifted from a highway truck onto a railroad car and vice versa, has been demonstrated as very efficient when the lifting is properly effected. To lift the bodies and still retain them level, irrespective of the distribution of the load therein, I have heretofore provided hoisting mechanism having four depending cables arranged at the four corners of a horizontal rectangle, so that two of the cables may connect with attaching devices on the demountable body on one side a suitable dis tance from the ends thereof and two with similar spaced attaching devices .on the other side. Then if the cables are all pulled up as a unit, the body will remain level. V

Sometimes it is desirable to raise a body where such four-point lifting mechanism is not available, and in that case a locomotive crane, or

single hooktravelling crane, carrying a suitable sling or cradle may be employed, but heretofore such lifting means has had the decided disadvantage, that, if the body were unevenly loaded, the heavier end would sag, thus causing the body to engage at one end only when deposited, with danger of injury to the truck or car, and presenting difficulty in its proper placement. Moreover, if the uneven loading were extreme enough, the sagging at one end would be sufficient to cause the lighter package freight to slide down toward the heavier end, injuring the contents and making the heavier end sag still more.

It is the object of this invention to provide a system of handling demountable bodies from 3 a single raising hook which will maintain the body level notwithstanding uneven loading. I accomplish this by providing an equalizingcradle suspensible from a single point and equipped With means for engaging the body at four points,

two on each side, there being means for shifting the cradle longitudinally of the body and with reference to the support, to compensate for the unequal loading of the body. I may thus maintain the body level and efficiently transfer it from one vehicle to another, irrespective of the weight conditions within the body.

Two embodiments of a mechanism for carrying out my method are illustrated in the drawings hereof; both of them, and other modifications or equivalents, not shown, are included within my invention as summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig.. 1, is a side elevation of one form of the equalizing cradle of my invention, shown as suspended from a single hook and suspending an unequally loaded body above an automobile truck; Fig. 2 is an end view of the construction of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged end View of the cradle mechanism of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section on the line 4-4 5 on Fig. 3; Fig. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the equalizing cradle, being a vertical crosssection longitudinal of a supporting drum, which extends transversely of the body to be lifted; I Fig. dis a vertical cross section of the embodi- 10 ment of Fig. 5, as indicated by the line 66 on Fig. 5; Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrams illustrating the course of the cradle cables about the supporting members of Figs. 3 and 5, respectively. h

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates a high- 15 way truck and B a demountable body adapted to rest thereon. The body is shown as having doors I) in its sides and b in its ends, by which it may be loaded. Secured to the two sides, be- H tween doors b and the ends of the body are upwardly extending straps b terminating in hooks b for engagement with the lifting device. In these figures, I have indicated in dotted lines a large load C near one end of the body and a small load C near the other end. It will be 25 evident that a body so loaded, if suspended from a single point, as the hook D in the drawings, would naturally sag at the end carrying the load C. Such sagging, however, is prevented by the equalizing cradle of my invention about to be 30 described. 7

Referring now to the cradle shown in Figs. 1 to 4, I have provided a suitable cross-beam or truss l ll, provided with an eye ll, adapted to hook onto the crane hook D. Depending from the opposite ends of the cross-beam H] are brackets 12, in which is journalled a shaft l3 On this shaft, adjacent the brackets are cablecarrying drums, shown as tWo double-groove sheaves i5. Mounted centrally of the cross-beam ll is a motor 2!], the armature 2! of which car- .ries a worm 22, meshing with a worm wheel 23 on the shaft l3. This motor may accordingly turn the two sheaves E5 in one direction or the other, according to the direction of rotation of 45 the motor, while when the motor is stationary, its worm will hold the sheaves stationary.

Extending over and secured to the sheaves l5 are the cables 30, one of which extends over and part way around the sheave from one direction 50 and lies in one groove thereof, and is attached thereto as at 3!, whilethe other extends over the sheave in the other direction and is attached thereto as at 32. The cables 30 passing over the sheave members 15 flare therefrom diagonally downward in parallel vertical planes, with the result that the lower ends of the cables come to points which are in the four corners of a horizontal rectangle, and such ends at these points are attached to a suspensible frame, which may engage the body, as about to be described.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the suspensible frame comprises longitudinal bars 40 and crossbars 4I, connected to make an open rectangular floating frame. This floating frame carries on each side two depending shackles to engage the body hooks 12 For this purpose, I have shown U-shaped shackles 42, which are mounted on cross-pins 43 extending through the longitudinal bars 40, adjacent the cross-bars. The longitudinal bars are provided with upstanding eyes 45, to which the lower ends of the cables are attached, these eyes being preferably directly over the shackles.

With the construction described, the cradle suspended from the single hoist hook D may be lowered over a supported demountable body and the shackles 42 engaged to the hooks b of the body. Then when the hook D is drawn up, the body will be raised. Now if such body is unequally loaded, the operator may readily compensate for this condition by shifting the floating frame with reference to the supporting beam I I], this being accomplished by rotating the motor 26 in one direction or the other. Accordingly, when raising the body, if one end thereof tends to sag by reason of being loaded more heavily at that end, the attendant simply energizes the motor 2|] in the direction to turn shaft I3, to pull in the cables leading from the heavy loaded end, and pay out the cables toward the lighter end, the crane hook being longitudinally shifted as may be necessary. Thus, the floating frame, instead of being supported directly below the hook D, as illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 1, is supported eccentrically thereof, as illustrated in full lines in that figure. When the cradle is in this position, the lifting action of the hook D is transmitted to the four body hooks b in proportion to the load thereon, so that the body remains level.

In actual operation, the adjustment of the cradle may be made as the lifting progresses, and without delaying the lifting operation, the attendant simply controlling the motor 20 and the position of the load hook D as occasion requires. As soon as the body becomes level during the lift, he turns off the current to the motor 20 and thereafter the body is raised or lowered in a level condition.

In place of the worm and worm wheel mechanism and the two-cable drums described, I may employ the single internally-driven drum illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. In these views, the crossbeam III! has a suspending eye III and depending end brackets H2, in which is journalled a cross-shaft I I3. On this shaft is mounted a transverse drum I5, by internal spiders III; the drum has near its ends grooves I I6 about which loop the cables I30, leading diagonally downward to the supporting frame, as already described. In this case, I may employ at each side a single cable I30, which makes a few turns about the drum and then leads diagonally downward in the other direction, as illustrated in Fig. 8.

To rotate the drum H5 in one direction or the other and hold it in any desired position, I have shown a motor I 20, carried by one of the brackets H2. The armature of this motor is mounted on a sleeve I2 I, journalled on the shaft I I 3. This sleeve is formed with an eccentric portion which lies within two gears I24 and I25 which are rigid with each other. These gears are nearly alike but one of them has slightly more teeth than the other. The gear I24 meshes with 5 a stationary internal gear I26, shown as carried by a spider I21 on the frame of the motor I20. The other gear I25 meshes with an internal gear I28 on the drum II5.

In the construction described, the drum is rol0 tated in one direction or the other according to the direction of the rotation of the motor, because the turning of the armature of the motor turns the eccentric and thus gives a circular translation to the two gears I24 and I25, as a unit, but 15 as these two gears have a different number of teeth it follows that the movable gear I28 on the drum will be crowded in one direction or the other as the gear I 24 coacts with the stationary gear I26. If the gears I24 and I25 differ from each 20 other, for instance, by one tooth, there would result a feeding of the drum only a distance corresponding to one gear tooth for each complete rotation of the motor armature. This system therefore provides a powerful gear reduction enabling the ready shifting of the support when suspending a heavily loaded body.

In the embodiment last described, as well as in the former one, the floating frame is hooked to the body and then the raising by the hoist hook 30 D may begin and the cradle be adjusted in one direction or the other, during the first part of the raising action, to compensate for the uneven loading, by rotating the motor in one direction or the other. 35

noid brake used to hold the armature stationary, i5

when no current is flowing. In any case, it is desirable to lock the shiftable support for the eradle cables whenever the load has been equalized and is level.

I claim: 1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a beam adapted to be attached to a raising hook, a. floating frame adapted to be attached to a demountable body at four points, two on each side of the body, a pair of .1.:

cables connecting the floating frame with the beam, and means for shifting said cables in one direction or the other to cause the frame to be eccentric of the beam.

2. In a device of the character described, the

combination of a suspensible beam, a shaft carried thereby, a sheave or drum member on the shaft, a pair of cables passing onto and off of said sheave or drum, a floating frame to which the cables are anchored, and which has means for 6515 attachment to the body, and means for turning said shaft in one direction or the other.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a floating rectangular frame, four' load engaging shackles depending from the -5 frame, two on each side, a rotary member, means for suspending the rotary member from a single lift hook, and two cables, each anchored to the floating frame and intermediately passing about the rotary member in such manner as to be moved thereby, and a motor for operating the rotary member. i

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a floating rectangular frame, four load engaging shackles depending from the frame, two on each side, a rotary member extending transversely of the frame, means for suspending the rotary member centrally from a single lift hook, and two cables, each anchored at opposite ends to the floating frame adjacent the shackles and intermediately passing.about the rotary member in such manner as to be moved thereby, a motor and gearing connecting it with the rotary member, said gearing being of a self-locking nature.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a suspensible member having means for attaching it to a single load lifting hook, a shaft carried by said member, a rotatable drum or sheave on said shaft, a cable passing about the sheave or drum and extending diagonally downward in opposite directions therefrom, a frame, to which the lower ends of the cable are attached, and which is adapted to be attached to a demountable body, a motor for rotating the sheave or drum, and means for holding sheaves or drum in the position given it by the motor.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a suspensible beam or truss having means for attaching it to a single load lifting hook, said beam or truss having depending brackets adjacent its ends, a drum rotatably mounted between the brackets, two cables passing about the drum and extending diagonally downward in opposite directions therefrom, a floating frame to which the lower ends of the cable are attached, and which is adapted tobe attached to a demountable body, and a motor for rotating the drum.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination of a suspensible beam or truss having means for attaching it to a single load lifting hook, said beam or truss having depending brackets adjacent its ends, a shaft mounted in said brackets, a pair of sheaves on said shaft adjacent the brackets, two cables passing about the sheaves and extending diagonally downward in opposite directions therefrom, a floating frame to which the lower ends of the cable are attached, and which is adapted to be attached to a demountable body, and a motor for rotating the shaft.

8. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination of a suspensible beam, a shaft carried thereby, a pair of sheaves on the shaft, cables passing about the sheaves and extending diagonally downward in opposite directions therefrom, a rectangular floating frame to which the cables are attached, four shackles carried by the frame adapted to be secured to a load, a worm wheel on the shaft, and a driving motor mounted on the beam and operating a worm engaging the worm-wheel.

9. The combination of a suspensible beam, a rotary drum carried thereby, a pair of cables passing about the drum and extending diagonal- 1y downward in opposite directions therefrom, a

floating frame to which the ends of the cables are attached, means for attaching the frame to a demountable body at four points, two on each side, a motor carried by the cross-beam and internal gearing within the drum given by the motor and reacting against a stationary memher and operating to turn the drum at a reduced speedin one direction or the other according to the rotation of the motor.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a suspensible frame having, parallel spaced side bars, depending shackles carried thereby, two-on each side, these shackles being adapted to engage attaching devices on a demountable body, a transverse beam having means for its attachment'to a single hook hoist, means connecting the opposite ends of said beam with the two side bars respectively, and mechanism; for moving said connecting means to change the relation of the beam to the suspended frame.

11. The combination of a supporting device having a rotary sheave, a floating frame adapted to be attached to a load, a flexible member attached to the floating frame and intermediately embracing the sheave, and means for rotating the sheave.

12. The combination of a supporting device having means for its attachment .to a single hook of a lifting mechanism, a pair of rotary sheaves mounted on said supporting device, a floating frame adapted to be attached to a load, a pair of flexible members attached at their ends to the floating frame and intermediately em bracing the sheaves, and means for rotating the sheaves as a unit to-wind in the flexible members on one side and pay them out on the other to shift the suspensible frame with reference to the supporting hook.

133. The combination of a supporting device having means for its attachment to a single hook of a lifting mechanism, a rotary sheave mounted on said supporting device, a floating frame having four depending shackles at the four corners of a rectangle adapted to be attached to aclemountable body, a flexible member attached to the floating frame and intermediately embracing the sheave, and means for rotating the sheave to wind in the flexible member on one side and pay it out on the other to shift the suspensible frame with reference to the supporting hook.

14. In a hoist frame, the combination of a suspensible frame having load attaching devices, adapted to engage a body to be hoisted, a supporting device adapted to be removably connected with the single hook of a hoisting mechato said suspensible frame and means for shifting the flexible means with reference to said supporting device.

15. In a hoist frame, the combination of a suspensible frame having load attaching devices, adapted to coact with corresponding members on abody to be hoisted, a supporting device adapted to be removably connected with the single hook of a hoisting mechanism, flexible means connected to said suspensible frame and intermediately movably connected with said supporting device, and means for shifting the flexible means at the connection to said supporting device.

16. In a hoist frame, the combination of a suspensible rectangular frame having load attaching devices, two on each side, adapted to coact with corresponding members on a body to be hoisted, a supporting device adapted to be r -movably connected with the single hook of a hoisting mechanism, flexible means connected at its ends to said suspensible rectangular frame and intermediately movably connected with said supporting device, and means for shifting the flexible means in the direction of its length with reference to said supporting device.

17. The combination of a suspensible rectangular frame having parallel side bars each carrying two load attaching devices adapted to coact with corresponding members on a demountable truck body, a supporting device adapted to be removably connected with the single hook of a hoisting mechanism, said supporting device 10 being shiftably connected with said suspensible rectangular frame, and an electric motor for shifting the suspensible frame with reference to said supporting device.

18. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a suspensible frame, depending pivoted shackles carried thereby, two on each side, said shackles being adapted to engage hooks at the eaves of a demountable body, a device for attachment to a single hook hoist, supporting connections between said device and said frame, an electric motor, reduction gearing operated thereby, and mechanism operated by the gearing device.

BENJAMIN F. FITCH. 

